A Different Path
by Oni-kun6553
Summary: A strange power reveals itself and unleashes its strange magics on Ichigo. After being weakened dramtically, Rukia must help him regain his strength to fight the Hallows. No Restrictions? What did his attacker mean? Find out. [IchigoxRukia]


Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well not nothing, but I don't own any of Bleach or it's characters. But I do own their lives in this story! Buwahahaha…. Right.

**A Different Path**

Chapter 01:

A _Fateful_ Turn for the Worse

"Ichigo Kurosaki. That name seems…familiar." Called out a voice in a blanket of darkness.

A pair of illuminating red eyes shined eerily in the pitch-black background. A column of silver light, bordering on gray shot up from the ground with a dazzling display. The speaker moved its bleach porcelain-like face into the glow of the column of light. An ethereal figure appeared in the center, standing in mid-air.

The column of light flickered on the smooth white surface of a mask nearly the size of an automobile. The same low baritone voice chuckled to itself and turned its attention to the right as another mask came from the same sea of black surrounding them. The mask was only the size of a human's, but the pale yellow glow of its eyes made up for its size.

"This mortal will be mine. I shall show him the fears of his own soul. He may be shinigami, but even shinigami can not stand against my…methods."

The figure stepped up to the light; its body matched the mask well with strange indigo colored strips crossing its cheeks. The creature was a well-endowed female clad in black clothing similar to a shinigami's while a strange billowing fur flowed from her shoulders to her torso. The large masked turned back to the light and narrowed its eyes slightly.

The pillar of light warped and bended as its color brightened to an extreme hue of pure white. After a few moments, the light waved and shifted a few last times before becoming still and rigid once more. The masked female said nothing and walked fearlessly into the blinding light. As her form disappeared the brightness increased several times before fading back into a dull gray.

The large masked creature chuckled as the image of the substitute shinigami flickered in the center of the pillar of light. "Her curiosity in this endeavor intrigues me... Using such a power on a weak shinigami, let alone a human…"

B-

"What!" shouted the teenager. He ran a hand through his spiky orange hair and looked down at the small note lying on his desk. He glanced at his clock as it ticked a little past 2 with an almost inaudible click with each passing second.

"What the hell is she up to now?" Ichigo asked himself as he glanced over the note again.

"_Ichigo,_

_I went to see Urahara-san. I'll be back around dinnertime. If I get any readings on Hollows, I'll be sure to get in touch._

_-Rukia_

Ichigo stared at the note for a few seconds more before he scratched the back of his head.

"How the hell is she going to get a hold of me?"

"Ichigo!" Ichigo visibly cringed and slowly turned around to see the stuffed lion standing proudly atop his pillow.

"Feh." Ichigo grunted, stuffing his hands into his pockets and promptly walked out his bedroom door. The lion stood there in shock for a few more seconds before dashing to the windowsill.

"Ichigo!" The shout came from his window as Kon had his stuffed arms on both of his cotton-filled body.

"Kon, leave me the hell alone." Kon dropped his head some and in defeat turned and jumped from the window seal.

"Fine, I'll just sit here…by myself…" He stopped at the edge of Ichigo's bed. Turning, he glanced at the window once then back ahead. Putting a stuffed claw up to his chin he strained his thoughts before he finally snapped and jumped up to the window's ledge.

"Baka! I don't have to do a damn thing you say!" He shouted pointing to the open air. A small brown-haired child walked by, munching on some ice cream stared at the small creature for a few seconds longer before the child tossed his ice cream to behind him as he bolted off into the distance crying.

A sweat drop slid down the side of Kon's furry head but he quickly shook it off and jumped from the ledge to the ground below and dashed off in search for a certain orange-haired boy in desperate need of a piece of Kon's mind.

B-

Rukia brushed the hair from her face and stared at her hand while she flexed it several times.

"Kuchiki-san, are you listening?" The shop-owner, Urahara asked cocking his head to the side.

"Oh, sorry. You were saying." Urahara shook his head and tipped his hat back a bit further on his head to reveal both of his eyes.

"What are you thinking about so much that you can't even focus on a mediocre conversation?"

Rukia stared at him for a few moments before she looked back at the hand of her current body. A faux body, the bodies were fake. She was fake. They were only used in dire situations when one's spiritual energy was dramatically low and one would need to rely on the replacement body until their energy returned.

Even now, during their last fight with a Hollow that was using the boy's soul trapped within the cockatiel. None of her demon magic was up to par to combat anything he threw at her. Nor was her body reacting in the way it should, she would ask Urahara about that later. She shook her head and sucked in her breath.

"Now what you were saying about strange energies?" Rukia spoke up before Urahara had the chance to argue.

He sighed and tipped his hat forward again. "I sensed several pockets of energy springing up all over the place."

Rukia immediately pulled out her phone and began to fiddle through some of the shinigami options. "You won't find out anything. The energies were large but were here and gone in but a few moments. I wouldn't have noticed it had I not been meditating."

Meditating, why do I find that hard to believe? Rukia thought to herself as the man continued to droll on.

"It seemed like they were firing in some sort of sequence. Like they were preparing for something."

"If anything comes through, then we'll pick it up and Ichigo will take care of it." Rukia answered confidently slapping the phone back close and placing it back into her pocket.

"I still have a bad feeling about this. It feels as if something is here, but it's…masking it's power."

Rukia's eyes widened slightly as she fought to keep her mouth from hanging open. "That's not possible. Hollows have never shown the ability to mask their powers in the least. At least not from our sensors."

The two suddenly went rigid as a surge of dark energy washed through the region. After taking several deep breaths Rukia looked up at Urahara, panting slightly. "Did you feel that?"

"Where did you say the boy was?" He said, standing up and wiping the sweat from his brow. Rukia's eyes instantly darted to the outside, as the moon's twilight replaced the suns.

"Ichigo…"

B-

Ichigo was walking quietly down a rather dark alleyway. But due to the recent events, he really had no fear of dying nor did he have any fear of Hollows. He paused and turned to face the moon, it's exuberant glow caused him to smile at something faintly as clouds began to roll in and blanket the sky.

A sudden surge of energy racked his body with a tremendous pain as he fell to one knee clutching his chest. His vision blurred and bobbed slightly for several drawn out moments. A figure began to materialize before him. A lone light that had been shining near him flickered violently before fading into its own form of death.

He swallowed and squinted his eyes as his vision began to stabilize again, the figure walked out into plain view, which still hadn't helped much in the dark.

"Kurosaki Ichigo?" It was a female's voice that broke through the darkness. If the situation had been any different, he would have felt a bit better about hearing the voice of a woman. But his gut told him that something was definitely wrong. He closed his eyes and focused his mind on his surroundings. He reached out for the energies of the world when the dark energies continued to wash over his body, seeping from the direction of the voice.

"Yeah, that's me. What the hell do you want?" He proclaimed, holding his voice from shaking from the dark vibes coming from the woman that only stood five meters from where he stood. He stood upright and held his breath to keep himself from practically wheezing from the initial blow of her energy.

"So you can see me. I'm surprised you can even stand in my presence." She took three steps closer. Ichigo immediately felt his knees threaten to buckle underneath him but he fought against his own body for control.

"What the hell do you want?" He called out in a somewhat strained voice.

"There are several beings that are…concerned about your current path. I'm here to concrete their ideals and unburden them from worry." The woman spoke easily, her words drifting across the wind as clear as if she had been standing only a few inches from his head.

He swallowed hard as she took another few steps in his direction. The pressure on his body increased several times more as he finally couldn't help but pant for the much needed oxygen. The woman snickered sweetly.

"Oh my, am I a burden to you, Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo sneered at her and spat to his side. "Shut up, bitch. You're just lucky, that's all."

Lucky? If I was able to turn into a shinigami would I still be this weak against her? He thought quickly, damning himself for leaving Kon behind and not being able to reach Rukia.

"So you can't transform into a shinigami of your own efforts?" She cooed to the young man as she took another few steps to him.

He dropped to one knee as he could distinguish her general shapely silhouette. What's with this horrible power and why can't I stand up against her? Ichigo shouted inwardly.

"Well what're you going…" Ichigo trailed off as the woman disappeared before him and reappeared right next to him. He could feel her breath and even in the shroud of darkness he could see the pale white mask that wrapped around her head.

"My, my. Impatient?" She spoke softly into his ear before nearly a dozen lacerations broke out over his chest and abdomen. He grunted and bit back a scream of pain as it double over but caught himself before he fell. Blood began to trickle from his mouth as he turned his head in her direction.

"Is this all you have to offer bitch?" He spit the small trace of blood from his mouth and grinned at her mockingly.

The woman gave a haughty laugh, placing the backside of her hand at the mouth of her mask. "What a cute, child. Perhaps I shall reconsider keeping you for myself in the future. Such spirit."

Several more deep gashes appeared across his back and arms in a spray of blood. Ichigo grunted and dropped to his elbows as another pocket of blood poured from his mouth. She stared at his weakened form, his tattered clothing falling from his upper body. She knelt down next to him and placed her hand in the midst of his back.

"Don't hold back. You can't hold back. You no longer have any restrictions. Your soul can not be hidden away or sheathed from sight. You will have to face your fears, your hopes, and your desires. Take this as a gift, Kurosaki-kun. Not as a burden, or you will surely fall beneath it."

The woman walked away from the damaged teenager, stepping into the darkness of the alley corner the woman turned around, her yellow eyes pierced the dark blanket that surrounded her before utterly disappearing completely. After a few moments of silence, the lone light fixture came to life a few feet away giving Ichigo a full hit of realization on how badly he was hurt. His vision was blurred over several times and his head spun faster than he could perceive.

The last thing the boy saw was the pool of blood that he laid in before unconsciousness took over him.

B-

Rukia and Urahara ran along side one another at full speed as they neared the huge power that pulsed through the city. It was incredible; it was possible that the power could almost be perceived on a mortal basis as the lights a few blocks from the site were flickering in strange intervals.

They slowed their pace as they closed in on the source of power until it vanished suddenly. Standing at the edge of a dark alleyway, the two crept into the waning shadows. Prepared for any foe to show itself and give it a proper way to return to wherever the hell it came from.

"Nee-san…" Rukia immediately looked down to her right to see the small stuffed animal trudge toward her at a rather slow pace and collapse against her foot. She knelt down and picked up small toy.

"Kon, where's Ichigo?" She asked quickly. Kon shook his head.

"Nee-sama…it was horrible. I couldn't move. I couldn't move…" Kon trailed off and went limp in her hands. She looked at the toy in bewilderment as her thoughts were torn away by Urahara's voice.

"Ichigo's near by but he's really weak."

Rukia tossed the stuffed toy to the man next to her and dashed forward. As she grew closer the distinct scent of blood overpowered the area. She cupped her hand over her nose and looked around in the thick cover of darkness in the alleyway. A light flickered, struggling to revive itself nearly 15 meters away. A crumpled heap in the alley floor caught her attention and only quickened her pace.

She was at his side in a blur and carefully turned him over in his own pool of blood. She glanced at her blood soaked hands then back to Urahara who stared at the two with an unwavering stare.

"Ichigo…" She held the boy close to her as the light continued to flicker off and on repeatedly a few feet away. Her clothes soaked in the boy's blood.

B-

Ichigo peeled his eyes open, he squinted at the brightness, aches pounding in the back of his head. He glanced from side to side and tried to crane his neck but the pain only spiked. Okay, kill that idea, he thought bitterly as he brought his head back to face the ceiling.

He allowed his eyes to roam the room briefly before the sound of a door opening stole away his random attention. The sandals and hat guy walked up beside him and stared down at Ichigo. After a few moments passed he released a long yawn and lifted his hat momentarily to scratch his head before tucking his hat back over his head.

"You're one pain in the ass, you know that?"

Ichigo turned his head and said nothing. Urahara laughed and shook his head.

"You're hopeless." His face instantly transformed from laughing to a rather deeply serious one. "So what happened?"

He knelt down next to the boy on his sandals and stared at him with an unwavering silent gaze. Ichigo glanced down and closed his eyes. "It was too much."

Urahara lifted his head. "Too much?"

"The closer she got, the more pressure I could feel on me. I couldn't bear to stand let alone move towards her…"

"You keep referring to this person as 'her'. Was it a Hollow at all?"

Ichigo opened his eyes and stared at the shop owner with fierce eyes. "Yes, she had yellow eyes and wore a pale white mask with purple stripes."

Urahara stood and turned away from the boy. He dipped his head in thought while Ichigo's eyes traced along the room until his eyes fell upon the sleeping figure of a raven-haired girl several feet away from him.

"Rukia?" Urahara turned and looked at the boy then towards the shinigami girl.

"Yeah, she's stayed at your side for the two days you've been out."

"Two days!"

Urahara turned back to Ichigo. "Did she say anything to you?"

Ichigo fought to rise up to his elbows and stared down at his bare feet. "She said that…I had no restrictions. That my soul wouldn't be hidden…that's all I remember."

Ichigo turned his head and stared at Rukia's still form as she slept in what seemed like a blissful sleep. A smile slipped across his lips, which Urahara immediately caught.

"Oho, staring at Rukia sleep hmm?" He taunted in a playful tone, managing to make a fan appear from nowhere and wave it a few inches in front of his face. Ichigo turned his head away and scowled.

"Feh, why would I stare at her?"

"Mm, what's going on?"

Ichigo froze while Urahara turned to face the conscious shinigami. "Nice of you to join us Kuchiki-san. We were just—"

"Just talking about what happened." Interrupted the orange haired boy as he whipped around to face them again. The pain shot through his body and caused him to wince openly. Urahara shook his head in disappointment.

"Yes, he told me that the Hollow had a human form. She had too much power for the boy to even move and she spoke to him about a soul restriction being lifted."

Rukia stood and brushed a few stray hairs back behind her ear. She stared at the boy with a worried look on her face. Ichigo swallowed as he finally took notice to her sincere look. The female shinigami immediately recognized the boy's odd look and stiffened up.

"Is this true, Ichigo?"

He nodded and averted his eyes from hers. What the hell am I thinking? I need to clear my head. She's only concerned about you because you have powers, nothing more. Okay?

"Ichigo? Ichigo!" The orange haired boy stared at her for a few moments before his mind finally registered his name.

"Yeah?" The girl shook her head and whipped out her cell phone that allowed her to detect the energies of Hollows in the entire region.

"Since you've been out. We haven't had a single Hollow show up. Which is rather odd."

"Maybe they just knew that I didn't have enough power and decided not to take an easy meal? Hell, I don't know." Ichigo sat up and leaned over his legs, hiding away his gritting teeth.

Rukia knelt down beside him and gently placed her hand on his back. Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. He turned away again, a conglomeration of thoughts bouncing inside his head.

"Rukia." Rukia turned and stared at the back of his head for a few seconds.

"Why did you stay with me while I was asleep?"

Where the hell did that come from? I wasn't…I mean, dammit, I don't know. He mentally slapped himself.

"Well…I just felt like I should. Someone needed to watch over you…"

He raised an eyebrow and turned back to face her. "Anyways, lets go. We need to get you back home before your father suspects things anymore."

Ichigo froze in his place. "What-did-you-say?"

She placed an index finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. "If I remember correctly, I tried explaining to your father that we were going on a school trip. But I don't believe he believed me."

"_Kuchiki-san, thank you for coming to tell me that you guys are 'going' on a trip."_

_Isshin smiled a large toothy smile and rubbed his hands together mischievously._

"_I didn't know my son had it in him!" Father Kurosaki pumped his fist into the air as streams of tears flowed freely down each of his cheeks._

_Rukia stood silently with a quaint sweat drop sliding down the side of her head. "Umm, okay. I'm leaving now."_

_The girl turned and walked out of the Kurosaki clinic without another thought._

"Yep, that's how it went. I wonder what he meant by it?" She questioned aloud. Ichigo's left eye twitched several times as he stared at her with his mouth wide open.

"Damn!" Ichigo flung his arms up in the air and collapsed on his back. Suddenly a very sharp feeling of regret skipped his back like hot bouts of fire.

Rukia shook her head as she tried her best to calm the boy back down as he winced and bit back wails of pain.

B-

The next morning was more than interesting. As Ichigo found himself standing under the hot beads of water as they pounded against his skin. A faint throb continued to present minor problems for him.

He turned the knob and the water ceased. He leaned against the wall and bowed his head, small droplets of water dripping from his wet hair.

Rukia. What are you to me? Why are you still here? Why am I even thinking about this?

He clenched his eyes shut for a few seconds before opening them again. He dressed himself in a pair of sweats and draped a towel over his back as he traveled down the hall and up to his room. Closing the door quietly behind him, he walked over to the open window and stared at the morning sun blaring down on the street below. He quickly assessed the area for any peepers and dressed himself in his school pants before glancing back out the window.

"Why am I thinking about you so much?" He whispered to himself.

"Who are you thinking about?" Ichigo immediately jumped as his towel from his back when he turned to see Rukia jumping down from her spot in his closet. She tilted her head to the side.

"Nothing." Answered Ichigo, walking towards his bed and retrieving his school uniform top.

Rukia's expression fell as she stared idly at the numerous scars across his back and arms. It looked as if he was beaten to within an inch of his life with some kind of whip but the way Ichigo spoke of it, the woman hadn't even touched him. The scars disappeared beneath several layers of clothing with one swift move.

Ichigo turned around and looked at her questioningly. "Rukia?"

She shook herself from her daze and managed a weak smile. "Oh, it's nothing. Let's get to school. I'll meet you outside so as not to attract any unwanted attention." She said walking by him and jumping onto the window's ledge. She glanced back as he smiled at her, turned and jumped down.

Ichigo stared after her fleeting image and shook his head. It's nothing. I'm stressing over it way too much. But why does she have to walk with me to school too?

"Ichi-nii." Ichigo stopped and looked behind him to see Karin staring at him with her hands folded behind her head and a pocky stick protruding from her mouth.

"Hmm?"

"You alright? You seem, different." She asked nonchalantly, twiddling with stick in her mouth.

He turned around and threw a simple hand gesture back. "It's nothing. Rukia's here so I need to go." He opened the door and the onyx-haired girl stood clad in school uniform at his front door.

Karin lifted her eyebrow and walked back into the kitchen, "Yeah. Ja."

Ichigo closed the door behind him and began walking side by side with the girl when a sudden voice echoed down the entire block. "ICHIGO!"

The owner of the proclaimed name stared up at the roofline as his father darted off the rooftop. Ichigo swallowed and willed his muscles to respond to the every morning situation but they disregarded his commands.

"This is going to suck." Ichigo chided to himself a little above a whisper as he steeled himself for impact. Rukia quickly reacted and with a simple motion used his body weight and flung him into her other arm, the motion caused them to both slide back several feet and away from the blast radius.

Isshin broke ground and a cloud of dirt and dust pillowed out a few feet then dissipated. He stood from his spot and dusted himself off. He tore the pair of sunglasses he was wearing from his face and grinned at the two standing a couple of meters away.

"I'm impressed, Kuchiki-san. Your moves are impressive. You will make a fine wife for my son." He gestured a thumbs up and a glint reflected from his toothy expression.

"Wife…?" Rukia asked, her eyes a bit wide before Ichigo's father darted towards them totally catching her off guard. The man was on them in a couple mere seconds before Ichigo pulled Rukia close to his body and pulled back a foot allowing the man to swing past them barely. The elder Kurosaki collided with the stone fence lining his clinic and fell to the ground, motionless.

Ichigo stared at his father's prone form while Rukia found herself occupied in her current position. Why do I feel so warm? Is it because of his body and why do I feel red in the face? She decided to steal a glance at his comforting brown eyes before noise from their attacker broke her thought structure.

"Heheheh. I see my son; you protect her already with such ferocity. You have proved yourself for the day!" He declared running towards them with open arms when his face suddenly collided with Ichigo's right foot. The man froze against his son's shoe and stared at it momentarily before looking back towards the two.

"Old man, leave us alone!" The orange haired boy followed up with the rest of the kick and knocked the man back into the same spot he had fallen earlier. Ichigo instantly came to the realization of his closeness to a certain shinigami. He felt his cheeks flush as he slowly looked down to verify his findings. He cleared his throat, which immediately caused the girl to let go of his shirt and straighten her clothes.

"Umm, yeah. Let's get to school before we're late." Rukia finally said walking away from him. Ichigo rubbed the back of his aching head and began to follow her, "Ichigo."

The boy paused and looked back at his father who was now sitting cross-legged with a stern face. "Tomorrow. Is our annual trip…" Ichigo hung his head and gave a quiet nod before catching up with the female shinigami.

The girl cast a idle glance at the boy when she caught sight of his friends in the distance, running towards them, waving their arms around wildly.

Ichigo stopped and gazed firmly at the ground several feet in front of him. Rukia paused and looked back at the boy.

"Tomorrow…will I be able to take off from Shinigami work?"

"What? What are you talking about? No, you can't. It's not something you can just quit." She answered him taking a step closer to him before his entire body went rigid.

"Tomorrow is the anniversary…of my mother's death…" Rukia's eyes widened marginally. "No…of my mother's murder." He finished before resuming his walk and brushing past her without another word and walking up to his friends.

"Ichigo…"

Chapter End

Author's Notes: **End of the first chapter. Hope you liked it. Cause I really enjoyed writing it, although I was really tempted to speed things up a bit too much. **

**It might be a bit confusing on how things are going and stuff. But they're happening for a reason. It's going to follow the anime/manga as best as it can but wont focus on the other characters as much. ; Things happen for a reason. Remember.**

**I'd like to hear any opinions you have, good or bad. Suggestions aren't bad either I take everything into consideration. If anyone wants to pre-read feel free, just check out my email in my profile. **


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